Look to the Rock

I woke to a morning of gray clouds and heaviness after a restless night. The weight of many worries settled on my shoulders, I stumbled to the place where I meet my Lord. 

Sometimes the only words we have are the scripted ones, but I believe Jesus gave us these words as a lifeline, always leading us back to Him when we get lost in the dark of this enemy territory. 

Our Father Who art in heaven... 

I began to sing this age old prayer and suddenly there was a new melody in it.  I cried out for His words of life - the true daily bread, and He gave them. The song became an affirmation of His goodness.

All good, every single good that exists is from Him... is Him. 

My voice failed and my heart cracked open and I poured out the sadness, the deep longing for redemption of all the terrible mistakes I've made.  But then He reminded me that Redeemer is His name and what He came to do. 

He is the One Who Saves. 

Light in the dark, key to the prison cell, physician to the broken-hearted.  Rebuilder of ruined streets and broken homes. 

I grabbed my Bible and sped to the book of Isaiah, intent on getting to chapter 61 that enumerates all His glorious ways of redemption, but on the way this heading caught my eye,

The Faithful Are Called to Courage. 

What?  I stopped and began to read chapter 51.

Isaiah 51:1-3 NKJV

“Listen to Me, you who follow after righteousness,

Look to the rock from which you were hewn,

And to the hole of the pit from which you were dug.

 Look to Abraham your father,

And to Sarah who bore you;

For I called him alone,

And blessed him and increased him.”

For the Lord will comfort Zion,

He will comfort all her waste places;

He will make her wilderness like Eden,

And her desert like the garden of the Lord;

Joy and gladness will be found in it,

Thanksgiving and the voice of melody.

What a fascinating command:  Look to the rock from which you were hewn. 

Abraham was a man willing to walk away from the comfortable and familiar and follow a Voice into the wilderness. He entered into covenant with this God and believed His impossible promise to make him the father of a nation. He believed despite a wrinkled and weak body of evidence screaming, "No way, that will never happen!" 

This is the rock from which we as believers are hewn.  We are the crazy people who step out of our comfort zones without really knowing why and believe promises that make the unbelievers laugh us to scorn, if we dare to tell them. 

And to Sarah who bore you.  Sarah, bless her, believed and received strength to carry a child in her very old age.  That's the real deal.  There's no faking that. Her body and his, as good as dead, and yet, God said, "Go for it. I'll bless you." 

And then an even stranger admonition. Look to the hole of the pit from which you were dug.  Look to the hole?  Yes, look at that gaping hole in the ground where God wrestled you free.  Ever fallen into a deep pit with no hope at all of ever being back on the surface with the sun on your face?  But God, He likes buried treasure.  He digs in dirt and pulls out rocks and says, "I know where this one will fit."  Jesus is the Cornerstone, but there are many more stones being laid in His house.  Look at that pit. If God can take you out of that ugly hole in the ground, surely He will be faithful to finish this house and make every stone in it a thing of beauty. 

For I called him alone. You may feel all alone. You may be all alone. On this journey, we often are. But He who called us is faithful.  He is a redeemer. He is a finder and fixer of lost and broken. He is a comforter. He is a gardener who creates incredible beauty in garbage dumps and deserts, places where glad hearts overflow with thankfulness and lovely melodies fill the air.  This is His promise. 

So no matter what it looks like around me today, I choose to hear the voice of my God, to take courage as I follow the only completely faithful One.  He will keep His promises. 

Nothing But Grace

I still remember – 23 years and 27 days ago when the sweetest little blue-eyed, blond fuzzed baby was handed to me.  Minutes before, she had finally emerged after a ten month pregnancy and 16 hour labor, gray and still.  The midwife quietly said, “Rick, pray for your baby.”  He asked, “Why?”  My mother told me later she nearly screamed at that point.  My precious midwife simply stated that our little girl was not breathing.  While Donna worked to clear her airways and administer oxygen, my young husband prayed for God to breathe life into our little girl.  I watched, propped up on my elbows, curiously at peace.  In just a few minutes, she took her first breath and began to turn from ashen to rosy.  She didn’t cry, but I did.  Much later, after we shared a bath of healing herbs and made it through the strenuous ordeal of my first attempt at dressing her, we were tucked into bed together and I looked down at my daughter.  All those long months ago when I lay on this same bed terrified at the prospect of the labor I had just experienced, I had no idea how amazing it was going to be.  I felt so proud of what I had done.  I had never known grace like that – as strength to do something hard, something scary and do it well.  To know that no matter what, I could get through it because I wasn’t doing it alone. 

When Rick came to me later, a little worried that somehow our little daughter knew he thought she was a boy all this time and was somehow wounded by that, I was still marveling at the grace I had experienced.  He was able to dip into it himself and let go of his fears.  Together we decided to name our daughter Catherine Grace, which simply means pure grace.  She was the living embodiment of the grace we had been learning to receive from our Heavenly Father while she was being formed and delivered. 

Now, here I am 23 years and 27 days later, counting the few hours that remain until she leaves us.  Of course, she will be back, but not to stay.  This is her time to fly.  The nest is too small.  The community is too small.  The entire state of Texas is too small!  This woman has a heart for the nations and she won’t be held back!  She is still the living embodiment of pure grace.  She has an astonishing capacity for love and joy that I could never have given her.  She is a priceless treasure, mine and yet not mine anymore. 

And this mother is once again looking for the grace to do something hard, something scary and do it well.  

 

Real Life Meets Real God

Yesterday was tough:  busy schedule, heart-bruising conversation with someone close, crowded roads, endless demands and finally headache and mind-numbing fatigue.  Nothing new here, sad to say.  It’s an age-old joke - the weariness of women and the headache that goes with it. 

In the quiet sunlight this morning, this thought came:  What if the weariness comes from taking up burdens and carrying them on my back all day as I try to go about my business.  Fear, self-reproach, disappointment, anger, shame – they are all like heavy rocks in my pack and not very conducive to leaping up to the high places! 

Then my heart cries out to my Father God.  I see my foolishness so clearly this morning as I never did as I staggered through yesterday.  Why didn’t I run to Him and lay all these rocks down at His feet?  Placed there, they could become an altar for my wounded pride, my self-sufficiency to die upon once more.  Once again, I know the truth – Apart from Him, I can do nothing. 

So why do I so often shrink back from drawing near? 

Because… I'm mad at Him.  For allowing all this pain.  For not fixing it all years ago.  I look around and everyone else looks so much closer to “done” in God’s oven.  They look golden brown and ready.  I feel like mush.  My soul screams, “Why?”  Why does it have to be like this?  Why this road?  Why these problems?  Why? 

And now, I need to go find a secret place and pour out the anguish of my soul.  Now, I’m on my knees and undone.  It is pain, but it is a good pain because instead of a pain that sits like a rock on soul, it is a pain that pours out and leaves behind the absence of heaviness, something that feels like peace.  In this place, He asks me a question.  Why is not important here.  The question is this:  “Will you trust Me?”

I weep on Jesus’ feet and know that He was here before me.  I look at the pain, poured out all around me, and I look at Him.  I know Him to be faithful.  I know Him to be good.  I look in my heart and I know that I believe He will keep His promises.  He will make it all right.  He will even make all the pain worth it. 

Of course I will trust Him.  In the fits and starts of my slow-to-learn heart, I will trust Him.  For me there is no choice.  He is Life and Light and though I do not understand His ways, I trust Him and His Love – for me, for the ones I love and for all the souls who cry out “Why?”.

Spring Cleaning My Heart

Like dust bunnies under the bed that you don't think about until you have a reason to confront them, I've recently found some not so cute and fuzzy things hanging around in my heart.  Timidity, fear, apprehension, tentativeness - they all belong to the same family and I've only just been made aware of a whole other crop of them that have been hiding in the corners of my heart.  I've battled fears in many forms and really thought I was walking in freedom.  My first clue that I wasn't quite as victorious as I thought came from an unlikely source:  piano lessons.  I've been so blessed to begin taking piano lessons from a wonderful, gifted, amazing Russian woman who just happens to live across the street.  My Abba Father is so awesome!  She is unlike any teacher I ever had growing up.  She has a passion for music and life that inspires me.  She also intimidates the heck out of me!  As my lessons have progressed, we've both become aware of this timidity and fear of making a mistake that has a strangle hold on my mind and my hands.  I even battle it when I am practicing at home.  Weird, huh?   I've begun praying about it and asking my Abba to set me free from it.  As usual, it is not a microwave fix, but slowly and surely He is peeling back the layers of this mess.  I've come to see that the root is the lie I believed somewhere way down deep and long ago that says, "You must be perfect to be loved."  I can't make mistakes because I have to do it all right.  I've been tempted to quit playing the piano just because I make so many mistakes.  I thought if I really had any talent for it, I wouldn't make so many mistakes.  How silly!  If no one ever did anything unless they could do it well from the beginning, how very little would ever be accomplished.  I don't want to live this way anymore - afraid of trying and failing.  I want to be brave enough to try even if I fail the first twenty times.  I want to live my life in a brave stride instead of a cautious crawl.  As Miss Luda tells me, I must be courageous! 

So, this morning, the Holy Spirit and I took the broom of Truth (it can also be a sword!) and we swept out those lying spirits.  Fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of mistakes, fear of being hurt - and all their friends were given their notice of eviction.  I told them they no longer had any permission to hang out in my heart and to take their junk and go in the name of Jesus.  Yes!  I am asking the Holy Spirit to clean that area up completely and bring love, power and a sound mind to live there instead!  Hallelujah!  Our God is so good!  He takes broken, imperfect, hopeless people and transforms them by His mighty power and love.  How can you not love a God like that? 

Just one more thing - when He transforms us - it isn't into perfection - it is into relationship with Himself.  I can't, but He can.  Apart from Him, I can do nothing, but I am not apart from Him anymore!  I'm in Him and He is in me.  That means anything is possible! 

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
                                                                                                               2 Timothy 1:7

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.                                                                                              Romans 5:8

Look To Him

They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces were not ashamed.  Psalm 34:5

I read this and all I felt was shame.  I felt that I was a failure. 

But when I looked to Him and I asked Him to speak to my heart His word of life for me in that moment, He did.

He reminded me that all my children will be taught of the Lord.

All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children. Isaiah 54:13

I cannot fail at a job that isn’t mine.  My job is to live an authentic life of following the Lord before my children.  To tell them Who I know Him to be.  The rest is in His hands and theirs.  They have to choose Him for themselves.  I cannot do this for them.  He will reveal Himself to them.  That is His part.

He is relentless, just as our enemy is relentless in his attacks.  Still, the truth is that Love has already won and will win.  I will stand in the victory Jesus has already secured.  I will trust Him and His word that says not one who belongs to Him will be snatched from His hand.

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.”  John 10:27 – 30

I will remind my soul that He is the One who started this and He will complete it.

Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

When I sat down to write this, my eyes fell on the verse above the one I had read: 

I sought the Lord and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.  Psalm 34:4

Yes. 

Thank You, Abba, for hearing me, for speaking to me, and for delivering me from the grip of my fears.  I will trust You.  I believe You.  Help my unbelief.  I love you.

Come

Sunday morning my family was spending time together as the church in our home.  It wasn’t our first attempt to do this, but lest you imagine that we have a long-standing tradition of experiencing the manifest glory in our living room, let me make clear that we are taking baby steps here.  I hope that someday it will be something like that, but in the meantime, I’m just incredibly grateful for where we are. 

As we waited for the Lord to speak, I began to thank Him in my heart for the fact that He says to us, “Come.”  A few minutes later, I was sharing this with the rest of the family and this truth just blossomed in front of us.  In Isaiah 1:18 … God says, “Come let us reason, though your sins be as scarlet, I will make them white as snow.  In Matthew 11:28 Jesus said, “Come all you who are weary and carry heavy burdens and I will give you rest.”  The author of Hebrews encourages us to “Come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16) 

Growing up in American culture has shaped my thoughts about God and not always for the best.  I realized this morning as we began to see this wonderful truth of God with His arms open and extended in loving invitation, that my default imagining of God was nothing like that.  In fact, the picture that came to mind was more like that of Dorothy and her friends coming before the Great and Terrible Wizard of Oz:  fearful trembling before an angry powerful One Who demands performance before there can be acceptance or assistance.  This is the essence of most religions in the world.  And yet, if we flush all the lies the world and its belief systems have told us and focus on the truth revealed by the written Word and the Living Word, what a wonderfully different scene we see.  We see the Father running to embrace the prodigal.  We see Jesus coming into the world as one of us, to defeat the enemy none of us could overcome, even though it took Him all the way to a painful, shameful death.  We see Jesus making breakfast on the beach for one who denied Him and saying, “Come have something to eat.”  God is good.  He is so much better than we give Him credit for.  He loves us, and He says, “Come.”

Thank You, thank You  Lord for being a God who says, “Come.”

Where I Am

Dear Friends,

I need to sit down and talk with you today from my heart to yours.  I wish we could sit down over coffee face to face, but this will have to do.  Getting Heart to Hear written has been a struggle lately.  This is due in part to the fact that it is summer and I find it very difficult to get the quiet I need, both to spend time with the Father and to write.  On the other hand, I’m also wrestling with the concern that I have nothing more to say.  I’ve shared all I know and maybe it’s time to say, “That’s all I have to say about that.”  Bottom line, I love hearing God and sharing what I hear with you, but what I do not ever want to do is to pretend I’ve heard when I haven’t and this week, I haven’t.   

I think that what I really need to do is take more time to listen.  My Father has been stirring my heart about a new direction for writing.  No surprise there since every other area of my life seems to be going in a new direction, too!  I need to take time to focus my hearing, and to wait on the Lord to speak to me.  I also want to be sure that what I’ve been hearing, I am actually living and walking out.  Thanks for understanding and bearing with me on the winding road. 

With Love,

Jennifer Davis

A Life That Lasts

This year has been all about change.  My church has changed.  My weekend routine of when I attend a worship service has changed.  The gym I’ve used for seven years has morphed into something completely different and the bit of community I had in those weekly classes is gone.  Even my favorite Mexican restaurant has been torn down due to road construction, and even though they built a new one, it is just not the same!  So, what is up with all this stinking change? 

Last night, as I lay in bed waiting for sleep to come and praying a little, this thought came to mind, “Nothing lasts.”  This morning I’ve been thinking about that statement.  I think a more accurate one would be, “Nothing lasts except what God does.”  Depending upon your age and background, you may be familiar with the poem that says, “Only one life will soon be past, only what is done for Christ will last.”  I grew up with those words in my Bible, inscribed there by a visiting evangelist.  Those words captured my heart.  I wanted to live a life that would last before God.  Lately though, I’ve wondered.  Is what I am doing of lasting value?  Are my prayers anything more than selfish, misguided requisitions?  Is my “service” more than a project that anyone could undertake?  I feel like I’m skating out on thin ice to even suggest that not everything we do for the Lord is gloriously pure and blessed by His hand.  How much of it is just us trying to find our own identity?  I want to do great things for God, but more than that I want to do great things with God.  Still I wonder…maybe the highest aim would be to simply do those things that He wants to do, trusting Him for the outcome and unconcerned with how great or small it is.  However, I won’t know what He wants to do unless I spend time with Him, getting to know Him, listening to His heart instead of always pouring out mine.  The bottom line is that there isn’t anything greater than coming to Him.  He is the end and not the means, and I don’t think I’ve really gotten that into my heart yet. 

Abba, Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit – please teach me what life with You really is. 

A Living House

As many of you know, we have been experiencing a major transition in our lives in the area of where and when we worship.  For 23 years, we were part of one church, but that church has ceased to be.  A new fellowship has risen in a new place, but the old one is over and the building will soon be torn down.  There is no going back.  The only direction to move is forward, so that is what we are doing.  It isn’t easy.  It feels very strange at times, but God is still my Abba Father and Jesus is still Faithful and True.  The Holy Spirit is at work in each of our lives and it is very good.   

This week when we attended the weekly service, we were waiting for friends to arrive when I saw another dear friend across the room.  I hurried over to give her a hug and say hello before the service began.  As I went back to my seat, I realized that now I felt like I was at church.  Before that moment, it felt like any other place where you go, get a seat, experience an event and leave.  But after spending a few moments with my sweet friend, I felt the truth that I was a part of the Body of Christ in this place.  Even though there are many I don’t know, just knowing there was at least one there I did know made all the difference!

Coming and going, even entering into worship and responding to the message isn’t enough.  I need connection with other believers.  I need to join my faith and my life with theirs.  Isn’t that what church is all about?  I Peter 2:5 tells us, “You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”  We aren’t meant to be scattered stones.  We need to come together to be built into this spiritual house.  Paul makes this clear in Ephesians 2:22, “In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”  I have no clue what the future holds, but I believe with all my heart that it is my Abba’s intention that we be part of His house and I am trusting that He will fit us in exactly where He wants us.   

Dear Father, thank You for Your amazing love.  Thank You for Your incredible wisdom in designing us to need to be connected to one another.  Please help us trust Your plan and your timing in placing us where You would have us.  Please help us trust You even when we don’t understand Your blueprints.  We love You and we know being in Your hands is the very best place to be.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Feeling Overwhelmed?

Lately, I feel a bit of dread every time I check the news or even my email inbox.  There always seems to be another urgent message informing me that I need to SEND MONEY NOW and save the world from the latest threat to life as we’ve known it.  The worst part is that most of the threats are real!  The thing I have a harder time figuring out is how throwing money at the problem is going to fix it.  Everywhere I turn, I am confronted with the demand to do something to make a difference.  I hear this in the Body of Christ as well.  “How are you changing the world?” has become the new “How are you?”.  In some ways, this is not a bad thing.  For too long, it has been easy to stay self-focused and complacent about the world outside the walls of our homes and churches.  On the other hand, I feel overwhelmed with the huge array of need and the incredible number of claims on my response.  I don’t do well when I’m overwhelmed.  In fact, it usually paralyzes me and I end up doing nothing except beating myself up for doing nothing.  This morning, as I struggled to enter the presence of the Lord and hear His voice above all the noise in my head, I read Psalm 27.  Actually, since I had the house to myself, I sang it aloud.  If you’ve never tried singing the Psalms, I highly recommend it.  Singing those words to the Lord was powerful and my spirit was awakened and energized to respond to God.  I found myself pouring my heart out to Him with tears and yet, feeling a renewal of my courage as well. 

The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?
When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh, My enemies and foes,
They stumbled and fell. Though an army may encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear; Though war may rise against me,
In this I will be confident. Psalm 27:1-3

What I believe the Lord is telling me is that He will show us what our part is in His plan.  Do not panic or be overwhelmed or leap into action apart from His direction.  He knows exactly where we are and who He has made us to be.  He will show us our place as we wait on Him and find our strength in Him.  

Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart;                       Wait, I say, on the Lord!  Psalm 27: 14

In the Boat!

“May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble; may the name of the God of Jacob defend you;  May He send you help from the sanctuary, and strengthen you out of Zion.”  Psalm 20:1

Last week, I told you about how the Lord has surprised me recently with the realization that I had a swamp in my heart and how He has uncovered some twisted, stinking thoughts lurking beneath the surface.  I’ve begun to see how I’ve been looking at my relationship with the Lord wrongly.  I’ve been talking about Jesus being the One who makes me right with God, but I’ve continued to slip back into living as if I am still trying to earn rightness with God every day.  Instead of seeing that He came and pulled me out of the murky water where I was drowning and put me safely into His boat, I’m acting as if He has just given me a better motor for mine.  The truth is that apart from Jesus, I don’t have a boat and I’m not a very good swimmer either!  So, that is where I am today.  I’m in His boat.  I didn’t build it.  I’m not steering it.  I am not even sure of where it is headed, but I am in it, and I trust the One who knows all the answers to my questions.  What I hear the Lord saying to me today is this,

“Trust Me.  I have you.  You are safe in me.  Stop treading water.  You really are in the boat!  Yes, there are high winds and storms sometimes, but never think that I have left you helpless.  Call on Me.  Cry out to Me.  Pour out your heart to Me.  I will answer.  I will give you what you need.  I am all you will ever need.  Settle it today in your heart – apart from Me you can do nothing.  Everything good comes from Me.  Don’t fret because of what you see others doing.  Trust Me to show you your path and give you grace to walk it.  I love you with an everlasting love.  Take joy in knowing this.  Everyone is looking for a perfect home.  You have it in Me.”    

Drain the Swamp!

My husband has been praying an unusual prayer lately.  He has been asking the Lord to “drain the swamp.”   Driving East from New Orleans along Highway 10 you can see swamp land that is very lovely, down in the Louisiana bayous where the tall cypress trees rise up out of the murky water and trail Spanish moss from their limbs.  However, I don’t think that is the mental image my husband has in mind.  His swamp is the kind of place where the water is so stagnant that you smell it before you see it.  The surface is covered with scum and you do not want to know what lurks beneath the surface.   I believe this prayer to drain the swamp came from the Lord.  Who else could tell a man he has a swamp in his heart and enable him to respond with the faith to believe He can and will drain it?  So far, so good, but here’s the weird thing:  my swamp is getting drained, too, and I didn’t even know I had one!  I honestly thought I was doing okay.  I was in a good place.  Then the waters started drying up and things began to appear that I hadn’t known were there:    twisted, stinking thoughts and emotions with big ugly roots going down into my heart.  Just like those massive cypress roots, there are some assumptions and beliefs in my heart that my Abba Father wants to deal with.  He called me to be an oak of righteousness, not a swamp cypress.   So, here’s where I am – facing up to what is being revealed, choosing to believe I am still loved and accepted by my Father God, and trusting Him to complete what He has begun.   I’m realizing once again that most of my yucky stuff stems from still trying to be perfect and in control.  I’m praying for the grace to lay those impossibilities down at the feet of the Lord Jesus and the courage to get up and walk every day in a new life where I trust His righteousness to be all I need.   So far, trying to do everything right and remain in control at all times has only made me a fearful, brittle, frazzled mess.  I believe the life I’ve been called to looks very different and I want to choose that life. 

Abba Father, I can’t change me, but I know You can.  Please enable me to cooperate with all that You are doing.  Please enable me to hear and obey, believe and walk in the freedom in Christ Jesus that is mine.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

He is sure

Ecclesiastes 3:1 tells us that “there is a time for every purpose under heaven.”  The next seven verses go on to describe many actions for which there is a time, and each one is listed with an opposite action.  “A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest.  A time to tear down and a time to build up.”  There is even “a time to keep and a time to throw away.” 

Clearly the writer has been around long enough to know that in this life things are always changing.  Sometimes it is slow and barely visible, like the opening of a bud or the growth of a child from week to week.  Other times it is a total rearrangement of the furniture of our lives that leaves us feeling tossed about like a little boat on the open sea.  My mental image for this has been the deck of the Titanic tilted to a 45 degree angle.  Everything is sliding, but I don’t think I’m sinking.  It is just really hard to keep my balance.  Nothing seems sure, but I hear my Abba Father saying He is sure.  He is my rock and His love is the ocean beneath me.  His mercy and grace are as high as the puffy white cloud mountains in the sky.  He says, “I have not abandoned you.  I am holding you by the hand.  In fact, I am holding you and your entire world in my hand.  Trust Me to be God.  Trust Me to be good.  Because I AM.” 

Thank You, Lord!  I will trust You.  I choose to embrace this time and all its uncertainty, because I know that it is simply the next step in a journey that ends in Your arms.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

So Simple

Here is all I know this week:  God is God and I’m not.  He can do anything.  Apart from Him, I can do NOTHING! 

The Amplified Bible says it this way, “I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing.”  John 15:5 

I find it very easy to forget I am only a branch.  It happens so easily.  I begin to think I am the Vine and if I don’t make fruit happen, then it just won’t.  Sometimes, I get really crazy and start thinking I am the Gardener and it is my job to take care of all the other branches.  For a branch, this is not only exhausting, but downright impossible. 

So…deep breath…I say to myself, “Hey, you are a branch.  All that frantic activity – mental, emotional or physical – that is not your job.”  Then I hear the Holy Spirit’s sweet still voice saying, “Just live in Me.  It really is that simple.  Lay down your plans, your worries, your cares, and rest in the fact that I am good and I know what I am doing.” 

He said it this way to Jeremiah, “I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”  (Jer. 29:11 NLT)

All I really need to concern myself with is living in Him.  For me this means waking up and making the choice to believe I am in Him.  He has brought me through the night and He will see me through the day.  He will lead and I will follow.  That is how simple it really is. 

Abba Father, I’m so tempted to make it more complicated, to make a to-do list of how to be in You.  Please, teach me to simply, humbly live in You, for Your good pleasure and glory.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Step Up and Stand Firm

Do you ever feel like a failure?  I woke up yesterday morning from a dream in which I was sitting in a school desk and in front of me was a paper with a big ‘F’ on it.  It was even circled for extra emphasis!  Realizing this was not the best way to begin the day, I began to cry out, in a rather whiny way, to the Lord for help.  Instantly, I heard His response in my spirit, “You feel like a failure, but your feeler is wrong. You don’t need to be rescued from these bad feelings, you simply need to stand up and believe and speak the truth about yourself.  This is maturity.  This is your call to step up and manage what you have been given.  To walk in strength you must not listen to lies or those who would advise you who don’t share your goal.”  At this point, I had to ask myself, “What is my goal?”  I realize my goal might be different from yours.  I know we are all at different places in our journeys.  For now, my goal is to stand by my husband in training our children to walk in strength and truth.  I also want to walk in strength and truth, myself.  I want to be ready to move on from laying the foundation stones of salvation, forgiveness, and acceptance.  I want to hear His voice and do what I see Him showing me to do – each day.  Being human, especially a female human, means having to deal with a body full of crazy hormones that fluctuate wildly from one day to the next.  I want to know that truth is still truth on the days when I can’t seem to put down the potato chip bag or my emotions are in a free-fall.  Essentially, those are the times when we just have to gut it out, as my husband likes to say.  This means thinking and doing what I know is right, regardless of the total lack of warm fuzzy feelings.  These are the times when going back to the Word and taking in truth as a life-saving substance is so vital.  Yesterday, I found Hebrews 4 and 6 most helpful.  I encourage you to read them.  I will leave you with a few highlights.

“We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. It's an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God where Jesus, running on ahead of us, has taken up his permanent post as high priest for us…”  Hebrews 6:18-20 The Message

“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”  Hebrews 4:14-16  NKJV

Abba, thank You, for your Word and for Your faithfulness. Please keep us faithful to You. In Jesus’ strong and mighty name, Amen. 

Dangerous Territory

Last week as I rushed around trying to get ready to take a quick trip to Virginia to see my parents and bring my baby girl and her baby car home from college, I took a few minutes to mop my bathroom floor.  I’m not sure why, but God always seems to be able to speak to me best when I’m doing something like that.  I had a song playing in my head, the Eagles singing “Take It Easy”.  There’s a line in it that says, “Looking for a lover who won’t blow my cover, she’s so hard to find.”  Yes, I know, this is not praise and worship music, but as those words rolled through my mind, I heard that quiet voice in my heart that I know is the Lord.  Here’s what He spoke to me through those lyrics.  If we get into the dangerous territory of real love we will find that our cover always gets blown.  Am I willing to let people know me?  Not the made-for-public- consumption version, whitewashed and airbrushed, but the real person that lives inside my skin? 

In 1 Thessalonians 2:8, Paul tells the believers, “Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.”  Most of the time, it isn’t enough to hear the truth from someone.  We want to hear it wrapped in love from someone who is willing to share not just the truth, but “their very selves” as the English Standard Version of the above verse reads.   Real love is not for sissies.  It requires of us that we push past our fears, and insecurities.  It means being brave enough to have the hard conversations when offenses have occurred.  It means being willing to work through problems instead of pulling away.  Real love isn’t easy, but it truly is the only kind worth having.  Today, I want to encourage you to take another look at your relationships.  Are you still keeping up a pretense with those who should be trusted with your very self?  Do you need to take some hurts to your Abba Father for healing so that you can be willing to be real with those who love you?  More and more, I am coming to believe that in our hearts we are all so much the same.  We all have those same feelings of being different from everybody else.  We have all heard the same lies from the enemy our entire lives.  We all have the option of choosing to hide or coming out from behind our walls and living in the sunlight of true love.  It is scary, but so worth it. 

Abba Father, please give us the courage and grace to love and allow ourselves to be loved.  Please help us bring our hearts to you to have the thorns pulled out of the sore places.  Help us be brave enough to face the pain of pulling them out instead of just living with the ache.  Thank You for being a God of truth AND mercy.  We love you.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

The Journey Continues

Dear Friends,

Each one of us is on a journey.  One of the things I love most about our Father God is that He relates to us as individuals.  My journey will not be the same as yours, although we may visit many of the same places.  I find myself at the beginning of a new chapter in my life.  For now, most of the page is blank.  I want to write a word of life and encouragement for you today, but in my heart I feel that this a time when I need to keep silent.  The Father is speaking to my heart, but for now, it isn’t anything I am free to share.  I need time to process and time to wait upon the Lord.  Maybe you do, too.  I love you all.  I feel so blessed that you are willing to read what I write.  Please pray for me as I seek the Lord for the next step in my journey as a writer.  For today, I leave you with a prayer from the Apostle Paul to his brothers and sisters in Christ in Thessalonica:

May God our Father and our Lord Jesus bring us to you very soon.  And may the Lord make your love for one another and for all people grow and overflow, just as our love for you overflows. May He, as a result, make your hearts strong, blameless, and holy as you stand before God our Father when our Lord Jesus comes again with all His holy people. Amen.

I Thess. 3:11-13

 In His Love,
Jennifer Davis

We Are One

For the ladies of Restoration (my home church for the last 22 years), we are nearing this chapter’s end.  However, it is definitely not the end of the story.  Yesterday, I believe I heard the Lord say the heart of Restoration is still beating.  Even as we commemorate the end of this part of our journey, the heartbeat of Restoration continues because it is alive in our hearts.  The desire to see individuals restored to God’s original intent for their lives is something we will carry with us wherever we go.  Some of us are going ahead with CityLife Church.  Others of us will be walking with the Lord into new areas of His Body.  The thing we need to remember is that no matter what, the Lord only has One Body.  Some may be here and some may be there, but we are still connected as the Body of Jesus.  We don’t need to draw circles around ourselves.  Jesus came to break down dividing walls, not build them.  We are still family no matter where we find ourselves on Sunday morning or Saturday night!  In the end, we all have the same destination – the presence of the Lord Jesus. 

Abba Father, thank You for bringing us together.  Thank you for knitting our hearts together in love.  Keep us one in Your Spirit.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Honestly Angry

Have you ever noticed how God likes to speak to our hearts when we are busy doing something else?  Yesterday, I was drying my hair with my amazing jet-engine blow dryer when the Lord began to speak to me.  Some “frustrations” (this is the polite word I use for things that make me angry) began to rise up in my heart.  As my thoughts flowed on, I surprised myself by saying out loud that I was angry at someone.  Wow.  Why was that so hard?  Growing up I heard Ephesians 4:26, “Be angry and sin not” quoted so much that I think I got the idea that you’d better not ever admit you’re angry – especially not at someone.   Admitting I’m angry is like standing too close to the cliff’s edge.  I might fall into that sin if I don’t stay way over here in denial of my anger.  The problem is if I can’t be real about where I am, with myself and with God, how can I invite Him into the situation?  Instead, I wear myself out denying what I really feel instead of bringing it to my Abba Father and getting His help. 

So right there in my bathroom I got real with the Lord and told Him how I really felt about some things.  It’s important to note that I had prayed about this before and tried to forgive and forget, but it is difficult to let something go when you still haven’t been honest about how you feel.  If I’m saying, “Oh it’s nothing.  No big deal,” when I’m actually really irate, I’m lying to myself and to God.  How can the truth come and set me free when I won’t even let myself speak it?  So, I got honest and God did, too!  Just kidding - He’s always honest!  However, He did say some things to me that I hadn’t considered before and they reframed the whole situation.  He gave me a new perspective, one that included my own need for His grace.  It’s remarkable how much easier it is to give grace when the Holy Spirit gives us a little peek at our own massive need for it.  In the course of a few important moments of truth, what had been a huge deal became something I was willing and able to put behind me.  Thank You Lord!

Bottom line:  Getting real with God about our feelings is a whole lot more effective than living in denial.  Be real.  He can handle it. Besides, it’s not like we’re really fooling Him.  He’s God – remember?  And, best of all, He loves us.

Abba Father, thank You for Your amazing, never-ending love and mercy.  Please give us the courage to be our true selves with You.  Thank You for knowing the depth of our sin and choosing to redeem us anyway.  Your grace is amazing!  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.  

Getting The Victory By Giving Thanks

I’m writing this week on Monday morning.  Today was one of those days when you want a rewind of the last seven hours when the alarm rings in the hope that next time it goes off you’ll actually be ready to face the day, instead of wanting to hide under your pillow.  As I moved through my morning routine of getting kids up and out the door to school, collecting laundry, and making myself get ready to go the gym, I stayed busy enough not to notice the heaviness.  But when I pulled out of the driveway and joined the rush of traffic out of the neighborhood and onto the freeway, it became almost overwhelming.  Thankfully, just as the enemy was pouring a wave of discouragement over my head, the Holy Spirit began to speak to my heart.  I remembered the thank offering verse He showed me last week.

He who sacrifices thank offerings honors Me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God.  Psalm 50:23 (NIV)

I knew this was battle time, just as clearly as if I had heard the bell that rings to sound the beginning of a boxing round.  I began to sing to the Lord, just making it up as I went.  (This is a wonderful benefit to being in the car alone!)  I told Him how I felt and then I began to thank Him for things anyway.  It was singing in the face of discouragement and sadness and somehow I know it was powerful.  I sang some more and it morphed into a prayer time for friends who are going through very hard things.  By the time I reached the gym, I was refreshed and encouraged.  My heart was back in alignment with the One Who is in control and my soul had been reminded that He is good no matter what.  This is what incarnational life looks like:  Jesus’ Spirit speaking to and empowering us and enabling us to draw on His strength to get through the day.

I want you to know something.  Every life lived in pursuit of relationship with our Abba Father through His Son Jesus is important.  Not one is more valuable than another.  The Kingdom of God is not a contest or a tournament where we try to outdo one another’s exploits and compete to win our Lord’s favor.  We have His favor because we wear the robe of righteousness bought for us by the blood of Jesus.  He delights in each and every one of us as individuals.  I write because He’s put it in my heart to do it, but my life with Jesus isn’t any more than yours because of it.  Now more than ever, I believe we need to live for the audience of One, knowing that His eyes are smiling at us with compassion and encouragement, just like a proud parent watching a beloved child take on any challenge whether it is their first steps or their first wrestling match or recital.  We need to face each day knowing our Abba is rooting for us, Jesus is praying for us, and the Holy Spirit is as close as our next breath to give us grace to get through each moment. 

Hallelujah!  Praise His Name!